MPs have accused Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and NHS England of failing to be open and transparent over the future of Leicester's children's heart surgery unit.

With the public consultation on plans to stop children's heart surgery at Glenfield Hospital ending today, 22 East Midland MPs have written to Mr Hunt and NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens urging them to clarify what will happen next and who will make the decision on its future.

The letter was sent by Labour Leicester West MP Liz Kendall and been signed by Labour colleagues Jon Ashworth and Keith Vaz as well as county Tories Ed Argar, Andrew Bridgen, Alberto Costa, Nicky Morgan, Neil O'Brien and cross party colleagues from Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire.

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The letter follows a meeting in Parliament between senior representatives from University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) and East Midlands MPs on July 4, where the group discussed the key issues in response to NHS England's proposals.

It asks the Health Secretary and NHS boss to ensure that a meeting between NHS England and UHL takes place as a matter of urgency to discuss Glenfield's plan to show how it will meet the required standards to carry out 500 surgical cases a year by 2021.

Ms Kendall said: "The children's heart surgery unit at Glenfield provides an outstanding service to families across the East Midlands and I'll keep fighting with all my might to save it.

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"A group of East Midlands MPs recently met again with senior representatives from UHL and it became clear that there is a lack of openness and transparency from NHS England over who will be making the key decisions over its future, and the timetable for when these decisions will be made.

"Worried parents, nurses and doctors deserve better.

"They deserve to be told when these key decisions will be made and who exactly will be making them.

"We are writing to Jeremy Hunt and Simon Stevens to ensure that we get the answers to these important questions, and to urge them to ensure that a meeting takes place between NHS England and UHL to discuss their growth plan as a matter of urgency.